Mahatma Gandhi suspended the Non-cooperation Movement. In this context answer: b) What was the impact of the movement
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Answer:
The Non-cooperation movement was launched on 5th September, 1920 by Mahatma Gandhi with the aim of self-governance and obtaining full independence (Purna Swaraj) as the Indian National Congress (INC) withdrew its support for British reforms following the Rowlatt Act of 21 March 1919, and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 13 April 1919.[1][2]
The Rowlatt Act of March 1919, which suspended the rights of political prisoners in sedition trials,[1] was seen as a "political awakening" by Indians and as a "threat" by the British.[3] Although it was never invoked and declared void just a few years later,[2] the act motivated Gandhi to conceive the idea of satyagraha (truth), which he saw as synonymous with independence. This idea was also authorised the following month by Jawaharlal Nehru, for who the massacre also endorsed “the conviction that nothing short of independence was acceptable”.[1]
Gandhi's planning of the non-cooperation movement included persuading all Indians to withdraw their labour from any activity that "sustained the British government and economy in India",[4] including British industries and educational institutions.[4] In addition to promoting “self-reliance” by spinning khadi, buying Indian-made goods only and boycotting British goods, Gandhi's non-cooperation movement called for the restoration of the Khilafat (Khilafat movement) in Turkey and the end to untouchability. This result in public held meetings and strikes (hartals) led to the first arrests of both Jawaharlal Nehru and his father, Motilal Nehru, on 6 December 1921.[5]
It was one of the movements for Indian independence from British rule[6] and ended, as Nehru described in his autobiography, "suddenly" in February 1922 after the Chauri Chaura incident.[7] Subsequent independence movements were the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Quit India Movement.[6]
Through non-violent means or Ahimsa, protesters would refuse to buy British goods, adopt the use of local handicrafts and picket liquor shops.[8]The ideas of Ahimsa and non-violence, and Gandhi's ability to rally hundreds of thousands of common citizens towards the cause of Indian independence, were first seen on a large scale in this movement through the summer of 1920.[citation needed]
Factors leading to the non-cooperation movement Edit
The non-cooperation movement was a reaction towards the oppressive policies of the British Indian government such as the Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar. A large crowd had gathered at Jallianwala Bagh near the Golden Temple in Amritsar to protest against the arrest of Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr.Satyapal,[citation needed] while others had came to attend the annual Baisakhi festival.[9] The civilians were fired upon by soldiers under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, resulting in killing and injuring thousands of protesters. The outcry generated by the massacre led to thousands of unrests and more deaths by the hands of the police. The massacre became the most infamous event of British rule in India.
Gandhi, who was a preacher of non-violence, was horrified. He lost all faith in the goodness of the British government and declared that it would be a "sin" to co-operate with the "satanic" government.
Gandhi derived his ideologies and inspiration from ongoing non-cooperation movements, particularly that by Satguru Ram Singh, who is credited as being the first Indian to use non-cooperation and boycott of British merchandise and services as a political weapon.[10][11]
Indian Muslims who had participated in the Khilafat movement to restore the status of the Khalifa gave their support to the non-cooperation movement. In response to the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and other violence in Punjab, the movement sought to secure Swaraj, independence for India. Gandhi promised Swaraj in one year if his Non-Cooperation programme was fully implemented. The other reason to start the non-cooperation movement was that Gandhi lost faith in constitutional methods and turned from cooperator of British rule to non-cooperator.
Other causes include economic hardships to the common indian citizen, which the nationalists attributed to the flow of Indian wealth to Britain, the ruin of Indian artisans due to British factory-made goods replacing handmade goods, and forced recruitment and resentment with the British government over Indian soldiers dying in World War I while fighting as part of the British Army.
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